When You Most Expect It
by Southpaw
Summary: [Experimental Comic Kotone] Professor Hasegawa has taken everyone for a daytrip to the amusement park! Will anything of consequence happen? (This story has been completed!)
1. Surprise!

This story is based on a webcomic which doesn't belong to me, rather to the awesome and busy Akira Hasegawa. It takes place in my hometown (which is actually where the original takes place as well), and I am more than happy to share some of my childhood memories with all of you (the events are not real, but the amusement park in all its descriptions is). I truly hope that I am able to portray Akira-sensei's characters in the way he intended.

PS. If you would like to gain some extra background on the characters, you can check out tsunamichannel dot com. The comic is there, although the most recent updates have been some interesting java applets

PPS. dialogue uses double quotes, thoughts use single quotes, side notes from me are in square brackets, and if I mean to use Japanese anywhere, it will be the English meaning inside curly brackets. 

PPPS. "Player", "Onii-chan", and "My Brother" are all the same person. Everyone else goes by only one name.

Okay, enough of me talking, on to the story!

Chapter 1: Surprise!

Laika looked up from her computer. "Hey, guess what?"

'Sigh I was so close.' She and the Player had been beta-testing the program the Professor had asked them to write, to make sure they hadn't missed any bugs. "What is it, Laika," he asked.

"The other day, Professor told me he bought us Ride-All-Day passes to Kennywood, in appreciation for the work we've done."

"That's cool, I guess... What day are we going?"

"That's the funny thing – he didn't say..."

"Oh." The Player tried to turn back to what he had been doing, but he found he couldn't concentrate anymore. "I'm gonna go get a bottle of pop out of the machine, do you want anything?"

"No, I'm fine..."

A couple days later, there was a knock at the front door of Player's house right as he was about to head over to the lab. "Professor! I wasn't expecting to see you here, especially so early in the morning..."

"Didn't Laika tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Then, it suddenly dawned on him. "Oh! Is this about the trip to Kennywood?"

Kotone chose that precise moment to walk into the room. "Hi Professor! Hi Tsunami! What's up?"

"He came to take me and Laika to Kennywood for the day," Player replied.

"Kennywood? Can I come too, Onii-chan?"

"I... uh..."

Professor pulled out a handful of red-and-yellow tickets from some indeterminable location on his person. "Of course you can come, Kotone. Where is everyone else?"

Player shrugged. 'Professor must be feeling particularly generous today.'

"Oh, I'll go get them!" Kotone disappeared as quickly as she had entered, but the three left in the living room could hear her loud and clear as she ran down the hall sharing her wonderful news.

"I rented a van, so that we could all go together," Professor explained when everyone in the house was ready to go.

"Konstantin!"

He wasn't fast enough to step out of the way of the young, energetic cat-girl. She tackled him, and it took every effort for him to separate himself from her.

Professor's attention was totally absorbed by this newcomer, so he somehow managed to miss it when the girl's younger sister (who happened to be a fox-girl) walked up to the group. "So, did you figure out why they're all just standing around out here, Anya," she asked.

The older sister shook her head.

"Professor takes us to Kennywood, Lisa-san," Haruna tried to explain.

"It's, Professor is taking us to Kennywood, but that was a very good try!" Player was still in the process of teaching Haruna English, while she taught him Japanese.

"Would you like to come with us? The more, the merrier," Professor offered, while the rest (except for Anya and Lisa) displayed monstrous sweat-drops. Tsunami even threatened to pull out her mallet.

They then got in the van – Professor drove, with Tsunami in the passenger seat, Konstantin and Anya behind them, and Laika and Lisa behind them. In the back seat sat Player, Kotone, and Haruna.

"...Professor? I can't seem to shake the feeling that we forgot someone. Why did we buy ten tickets, when there are only nine of us in the van," Tsunami queried.

Kotone looked around. 'Hmmm... There's Professor, Tsunami-san, Lisa-san, Laika-san, Konstantin-san, Anya-chan, Haruna-san, Onii-chan, and me... oh, I know!' She yelled so that her voice would carry up to the front: "We forgot Alex! We have to turn around so we can go get him!"

Professor turned to Tsunami. "Who's Alex?"

"Probably a friend from school, or something. Maybe we should go back, it'd be a shame to waste the ticket..."

When they picked him up, he sat in the back next to Kotone. Then, they were off to the amusement park.

Professor's next set of instructions came just after they got inside the gate. He looked at his watch. "Okay, right now it's eleven o'clock."

"And in five minutes, it will be 11:05." Player's face reddened as soon as the words escaped his lips. "Heh, sorry... It's a camp thing," he explained.

"I didn't know you went to camp," Kotone pointed out.

Professor cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm sure you guys can handle yourselves, and don't really want me hanging around, so let's meet by the carousel at 12:30, and we'll figure out what to do about lunch."

"So... I guess the best way to split up would be based on what rides everyone wants to go on," Laika suggested.

"Let's stay everyone together..."

"That's a good idea, Haruna," Konstantin exclaimed. 'That way, we can keep a closer eye on My Brother, in case his LSS surfaces (which is very likely to happen).'

"Let's start at that one over there." Lisa pointed to a building that was painted blue on the outside, with a water wheel, and broken (fake) windows. The group could tell that it looked like a haunted house, except that between the line to get in and the building itself, was a stream with boats in it.

"The Old Mill? It looks scary." Kotone made a face, and Alex gave her a comforting hug.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said.

As they walked toward the Old Mill, no one noticed the steam rising from Player's head.

"Would you protect me," Haruna asked innocently while Player's blush deepened.

"Professor picked a good day to come to the amusement park," Lisa pointed out. The longest they would probably have to wait in any of the lines was likely to be about ten minutes.

Player had his head turned, in a conversation with Haruna, so he didn't see the girl he bumped into on the way to the Old Mill A/N: btw, I'm taking longer to describe it than it takes to get there from the entrance. He helped her pick up the things she was carrying and made sure she was alright.

Laika was so angry, her eyes and hair were starting to change color a little bit. "It's already starting," she mumbled to Haruna and Konstantin.

"What do we do about it?"

"I will help My Brother's Love Sim Syndrome LSS by distracting the girl." 'Sigh Why is he always getting the girls?' Konstantin asked himself the eternal question, even though he already knew the answer. The two of them played a lot of love sim games. Somehow, this crept its way into real life, but only for Player, not for him.

"Come on everyone, meow! The line is moving," Anya called out. She, Lisa, Kotone, and Alex had already made it to the building the ride was housed in.

End Chapter 1

A/N: I feel like there's a lot of things I should be explaining, but hopefully they will be able to come up later. The most important thing right now is the reason behind one of the character's names. In the webcomic, Akira-sensei never gives "Player" 's real name. Kotone calls him "Onii-chan", and Konstantin calls him "My Brother". Nobody else really calls him by any name.

Also, some of the rides have been changed relatively recently from the way I will be describing them. My wish is to leave them largely intact from the time between five and ten years ago.

Wow, I talk too much. Anyway...

Next time: roller coasters, the carousel, and food!


	2. Strike!

Wow, I can't believe it's taken me this long to finish chapter two...well, maybe I can... Anyway, here it is, and since it's already August, I hope I'll be able to finish in time!

Chapter 2: Strike!

The two boats pulled into the darkness of the building, and the group started hearing strange music. The boats rocked back and forth a little bit, and they suddenly saw light around a bend. Kotone was the first one to see where the light was coming from. "Eww! That's so scary!" She hid her face in Alex's chest. This happened throughout the ride, and amazingly enough (or, not so much), Kotone wasn't the only one to have this reaction...

"I don't want to go on that ride ever again," Kotone whimpered.

Player squeezed her shoulders. "Don't say that so quickly. You never know what will happen as your programming matures." Suddenly, the background behind him went dark, and a bolt of lightning shot across it. 'Maybe that's why Professor's doing this – to get me to agree to let him change Kotone's body to match her programming!'

His background went back to normal, but he didn't have time to contemplate the idea any longer because he had spaced out again, and everyone else had started walking to the next ride.

"Wow! Look at all the stuffed animals," Alex and Kotone exclaimed in unison as they walked by one of the game booths.

'Maybe I worry too much... she still acts like a child,' Player reminded himself. "Would you rather do that now, and have to carry it around for the rest of the day? Or, would you rather wait until later?"

"Ha, ha! My Brother is always the voice of reason!" Kontstantin hugged Player's shoulders and looked around. "Maybe we should go on that one next."

Haruna followed the direction his finger pointed. {A roller coaster,} she asked timidly.

Konstantin proceeded to explain, "Not just any roller coaster – this is THE RACER! It runs on a wooden track, and from what I understand, it's a single continuous loop. It's called the Racer because it's like a race – one car always gets back to the station right before the other one!"

Alex contemplated the description. "Hmmm... I'm up for something a little different."

"I want to be on the one that comes back first," Kotone interjected.

Player looked around at everyone. "I guess it's decided, then..."

"We should have girls versus boys," Lisa suggested.

Kotone did the calculation in less than a second. "But, there's five girls, and only three boys..."

"That's okay, we don't mind."

It ended up that the train the girls were on was in fact the one to return to the station first. Laika looked at her watch as they stepped off the ride. "We should start heading over towards the carousel – it's almost lunch time."

"It's still a little early, maybe we could have a ride on it first," Alex asked

"Meow, I want to go on one that goes up and down!"

"Onii-chan, are you okay?"

"Yeah Kotone, I'm just a little dizzy. I'll be fine in a couple minutes... Whoa!" Player fell forward into the arms of yet another cute girl. "Heh, heh... a little too much going around in circles, I think."

Konstantin smacked his own forehead. {LSS... again,} Haruna commented while she prepared to draw her naginata from the weapon storage area known fondly to anime fans as hammer-space. Laika got to him first, though. Nothing had actually changed about her appearance this time, and she held nothing back when she pushed him down to the ground.

The other girl knelt to help him back up. "Oh my G-d! Are you okay?" After a minute or two, Player responded in the affirmative.

Haruna bowed. "Sorry. We go now."

Konstantin followed suit. "Please excuse us miss, My Brother should have been watching where he was going."

Player waved goodbye, a silly-looking smile plastered across his face. The girl was speechless at the spectacle, and simply let them walk away.

Laika glanced around until she found the rest of the group. "Look over there, they've already found the Professor and Tsunami. Come on, let's go. I'm starting to get hungry."

"So, Professor, what's this for," Player asked privately, after everyone got their food.

"What's what for?"

"This – this... treating us to such a fun day..."

Professor got a semi-evil look in his eye. "I haven't really decided yet, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out once I have."

Player displayed an oversized sweat-drop. "I should have known. You always fly by the seat of your pants, don't you?"

Professor raised a finger into the air. "That is correct!"

"Hey, what are you guys talking about," Lisa asked out of the blue.

"Oh, nothing earth-shattering..."

End Chapter 2

A/N: Yes, Kotone is an android. Player, Professor, and Tsunami are the only ones who know that. Everyone else thinks she's really Player's little sister.

Um... surprisingly, I think that's all I have to say this time around.

Next time: the Whip, the Turtle, and games!


	3. Swing and a Miss

So... I know it's been a little while since I updated. I'm sorry. I have a good reason, though – we're getting really close to finals, and the pressure is mounting. Anyway, here's chapter three in all its goodness!

Chapter 3 – Swing and a Miss

Player finished his lunch with no more answers than he started with. Actually, he didn't really have an opportunity to ask any more questions, due to the size and composition of the group he was with. So, Laika startled him when she came up to him after they had split up again.

"I saw you talking to the Professor before. Did he tell you anything?"

"Nothing. All I had time to ask him about was what this trip today was really about..."

"And?"

"He just kinda said he didn't know yet. But he was sure I'd be able to figure it out when he did..."

"Onii-chan! Laika-San! I found the ride we should go on next!" Kotone stopped for a minute to catch her breath. When she started again, it was still with the heightened timbre of excitement. "It's called the Turtle. It kinda looks like a roller coaster, but the loop is a little circle. And... the cars look like turtles!" She grabbed their hands and started running. The other two shrugged, and followed after her.

Everyone fit into one car. The ride got off to a slow start, but soon they were falling on one another from the centrifugal force. On the upswing of one of the hills, Anya tried to get back to the spot where she had originally been sitting. However, there wasn't enough time, and she lost her balance.

Konstantin blushed as he caught her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, nearly choking him. "Konstantin, you saved me again," she exclaimed with an expression of pure ecstasy on her face.

Konstantin's eyebrow twitched. He lightly pushed the cat-girl off to the side, and leaned over onto the center handle-ring for the remainder of the ride.

That was fun! Where do we go next?

"I thought Pittsburgh was spelled with an h..." Kotone was looking at the gate into "Lost Pittsburg", which no one else had taken notice of yet.

Konstantin made a weird face until he realized she was being serious.

"That was random," Lisa pointed out.

"Nuh-uh, there's a sign right up there." Kotone lifted her finger into the air.

Player started walking. "Well, let's see what's there."

They walked past the swings, a few games, and the Steel Phantom. The small tour would have been largely uneventful, except that it was rather difficult to miss the Plung.

Laika noticed the people standing on the bridge in front of the ride waiting to get drenched by the splash, and her eyebrow started to twitch. "Okay, boys, let's keep walking." She smiled to herself at their confused looks, 'Excellent, I nipped that one in the bud!'

Next to the Plunge, and a little bit behind sat two buildings. One of them actually looked more like a pavilion, and it housed the Whip.

"This one looks interesting," Player said. "It's called... the Whip."

"What is whip," Haruna asked.

Konstantin felt this was an opportune time to jump back into the conversation. "You know... (insert sound effect and hand motion)," he replied with a grin.

Looks of horror crossed both Haruna's and Kotone's faces (ie, everyone else knew better). {We must leave from here, this ride is evil. I want nothing to do with it.}

"Me either," Kotone chimed in.

Player grabbed their hands as they tried to walk away. "It's not really like that, Konstantin was just teasing you. Come watch for a little while, you'll see."

"It looks like they're having fun, but I wouldn't want to ride by myself," Alex commented.

"How about I go with you, and we let the girls go together. Konstantin, Laika, Lisa, and Anya can figure out how they're arranging themselves," Player suggested.

"Okay..."

'I had been wanting to talk to him about Kotone anyway,' Player thought. Suddenly, he had another revelation – 'Maybe _that's_ why Professor is doing this! He wants me to start considering the possibility of having to let her go a little bit...'

The ride's motor was noisy, which provided Player with enough privacy for his intended topic of conversation. "How do you feel about Kotone?"

The question caught Alex off guard, and his face showed it. "Huh?"

"She's like a little sister to me. I'm just warning you that something's gonna happen if she gets hurt."

Alex looked at him wide-eyed. Then he started laughing. "How could there be anything serious between us? We're only 12!"

Player looked away for a minute, focusing instead on the ride's ovular path. The exclamation had forced him to realize he was being paranoid again. At this point, he was coming to the conclusion that maybe, perhaps, Professor's purpose had nothing to do with himself and Kotone at all.

'Then what?' He then realized his slip-up from a little bit ago. 'Oh, no! I told him she was _like_ a sister instead of actually _being_ my sister. Guess it's a good thing he didn't pick up on it...' He turned back to Alex with a smile as the ride slowed down. "Never mind, then. I'm sorry."

Alex returned the smile and lifted the guard bar to get off the ride.

"It's starting to get late. Can we go play games now, Onii-chan," Kotone pleaded.

Player looked at his watch and discovered she was right.

They walked around looking for a game everyone could play. A lot of people had the same idea as them, so many of the game stalls had long lines. The "Cat Rack" only had a few people playing, but when they found out what the objective was, Anya ran away crying.

They eventually found a ring toss game. Kotone tried her hand first, but asked Player to with the prize for her after missing on the first try. He was more successful, and won her a medium-sized plushie.

Anya went next. She got the first one, but missed on the other two and was satisfied with a small-sized plushie.

Alex, however, had no qualms with showing off a little. He managed to get all three rings around three different bottle necks, winning him a large prize. He blushed sheepishly while everyone else marveled at his skills.

The sun was setting as they started to walk back toward the park entrance.

"Um... Kotone... I wouldn't mind switching prizes with you... if you want..."

"Huh? No, that's okay. You earned it, Alex!"

{The sun is setting,} Haruna pointed out. {We should try to find Professor and Tsunami soon.}

Anya had another idea. "there's still one more ride I want to go on! Will you sit by me, Konstantin?"

End Chapter 3

A/N: I'm actually not sure what to say here, except thanks for sticking with me this long! Only one more chapter to go, and most of it's already written.

Oh, man! Writing this story has made the desire to go to Kennywood stronger and stronger! I hope I can find time while I'm home on term break...

Next time: were you able to predict the conclusion?


	4. When You Least Expect It

Welcome to the final installment! I won't take too much of your time, just keep your eyes moving down the page...

Chapter 4: When You Least Expect It

The cat-girl took hold of Konstantin's hand and led him off towards the Ferris Wheel. Lisa made puppy-dog eyes at Laika, and both Haruna and Kotone made puppy-dog eyes at Player.

Player pulled Kotone aside. "Why don't you want to ride with Alex? You and he are such good friends."

Kotone was slightly taken aback at the kind gesture, but accepted it at face value. "Okay!"

In the end, Laika and Konstantin reluctantly gave in – it _was_ the last ride, after all.

The Ferris Wheel had twenty cars on it, each one circular with six seats and a canopy. Konstantin and Anya climbed into one of the cars, and watched as Kotone and Alex followed them in. Konstantin reached over to attract Player's attention.

"My Brother, it's bad enough I have to deal with Anya. Why are they here, too?"

"It's a short ride. Just have a little patience, okay? I'm pretty sure we're leaving right after this. If you're that worried, lay down some guidelines, alright? It'll be over before you know it, and in the process you'll be making the person who looks up to you the most very happy." With that, Player went over to the next car, where Laika, Lisa, and Haruna had already climbed in.

They met back up with Professor and Tsunami at the gate of the park.

"Did you all have a good day," Tsunami asked.

{We just came from the Ferris Wheel. I could see such far distances! It was so beautiful.}

"The Ferris Wheel was the best part," Anya added, eyeing Konstantin.

"I thought the best part was the game," Alex said, clutching his prize.

Professor looked around at the tired faces. "Good! Is everyone ready to go, then?" He was met with a chorus of resounding yeses.

As they walked back to the van, the younger members of the group smiled at each other, exclaiming how much fun they had. Laika, Haruna, and Konstantin lagged behind, exhausted and relieved that the day was finally over. Professor and Tsunami brought up the rear.

"I feel like this was a successful day," Professor pointed out while ignoring Tsunami's reaction.

Once all the passengers were in the van and the motor was turned on, they all fell asleep on each others' shoulders.

Tsunami turned to the Professor. "So, would you mind explaining to me why exactly today was so successful," she asked.

"Not at all," he replied. "Take a look at Laika's left arm." He heard her gasp as she did so.

"She doesn't have her seal. WHAT DID YOU DO," Tsunami demanded.

Professor shrugged it off. "_I_ didn't do anything. I noticed it when we got to the park, but I didn't mention anything to her because I knew she'd make me turn around and come back for it. Also, I wanted to see what would happen, if she could keep control of herself. In fact, I'm amazed she never realized it was gone! She truly is an amazing girl..."

After that, the conversation stopped so that Professor could concentrate on driving. He had also given Tsunami a lot to think about.

Professor and Tsunami woke everyone up when they returned to Player's house.

Alex picked up the stuffed animal he had won from the game, and got ready to go home. "Bye everyone thanks so much for a great day! See you later, Kotone."

Kotone waved to her friend, and then ran up to the door of the house. "Onii-chan! Could you please come open the door? I need to use the bathroom!"

"Why didn't you go before we left the park?"

"I didn't have to then! Besides, the ones they have there are icky!"

sigh "Alright, here I come."

When Kotone re-emerged, she was carrying a spiral-shaped piece of gold-colored jewelry, which bore an indecipherable inscription.

"Look at what I found by the sink in the bathroom! It almost looks like Laika's..." She stopped when she saw Laika's bare left arm, and realized the object she was holding was exactly what she thought it was. She immediately handed it to its owner.

"I must have forgotten to put it back on after my shower this morning," Laika mumbled while sliding the bracelet up past her elbow.

"I thought you weren't supposed to take it off, meow," Anya interjected.

Lisa's eyes lit up. "Do you know what this means?!"

'I went the whole day without it...' Laika realized. "Yeah, it means I need to seriously re-think some stuff."

The statement seemed to satisfy the fox-girl, even though she only had the vaguest of ideas what it actually meant.

Everyone wished the Professor and Tsunami a good night, and went their separate ways. Only Player, Kotone, Haruna, Konstantin, and Laika went into the house.

Professor pulled Laika aside. "This was a very big step for you today."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know when I reach a decision of whether I still want the oni gene removed from my genetics or not. It may be a while, though."

"Take your time."

Laika displayed a genuine smile as she walked inside. The two still outside heard Kotone ask her about the conversation as she closed the door.

End Chapter 4

End When You Most Expect It

A/N: Phew! Never thought that would happen, did ya? I actually finished a multi-chapter story, and in time for the contest deadline!

Okay, I guess I left something out in this chapter. Laika actually has some sort of oni gene in her that makes her act weird. That's what the part was at the beginning of the story, when her coloring changed a little bit. She was angry, and because she wasn't wearing the bracelet, she was initially having a little trouble controlling it. She was coordinating with the Professor to have him arrange for the gene to be removed from her body, but we can all see what happened...

I hope you enjoyed my little diversion; I really appreciate your patience with me, especially with involving a somewhat obscure webcomic... Keep your eyes on me, you'll never know what I'm gonna do next!


End file.
